Little Model
Posted on May 23, 2009
So I got a new toy, a Gary Fong Origami (I’ll be blogging about new toys soon) and I decided to try it out a cute little model. Her name is Lily and she has the most beautiful face.
The Origami lit up her face pretty well, as you’ll be able to see from these shots.
No, no Lily. This isn’t one of those kind of shoots. Put your dress down.
I’m liking how the Origami works. It’s pretty easy to use and it folds flat. And the way it throws the light around from my bounce flash is quite nice.
No, I’m sorry Lily, they’re not paying attention to you or your beautiful face. They are very interested in the Origami. They’re looking at the light, not you. Sorry.
See how bright her eyes are? See, the difference between the Origami and the Light Sphere… I’m sorry, you are paying attention, aren’t you?
Excuse me, I’m trying to give a review of the Origami. It’s very important information, you should listen.
Oh forget it. Next time I won’t use such a beautiful model.
HELP! The great name change debate.
Posted on May 19, 2009
So I have decided I am going to change the name of my business. Do me a favor and you’ll see why. Go google “bella photography”. See that? 8 bizmillion. Do me another favor. Type out www.bellaphotographystudio.com. It’s like a paragraph. The thing is, I’m also moving soon. So, I’m not going to change the name officially until we move. That way, I’m not changing the name and then changing the address later on. It’s just one big change. I’m slightly nervous about it just because it’s going to be hard to establish myself all over again, but my business is only 4 years old. It can be done.
Now here’s the thing. I know I want to include both of my girls in the name. But I can’t decide which name to pick. So yes, I’m going to do one more poll. I like the look of them both on the logo. I like the sound of them both. If I choose bellalily, Bella is still in the front. That could be a good thing or a bad thing. People already associate me with bella, so the transition might be easier. Bella comes before Lily in the alphabet- which is good when people are searching for a photographer. The bad part is I’m running into the problem of not being unique again with bella. Now, if I choose lilybelle, the name sounds a less redundant. I can actually get more domain names with combinations of lilybelle. But it’s putting Lily’s name first and Ava’s middle name second. I don’t know if that really means anything, and now that I wrote that, it does sound kind of silly to worry about.
So, I’d love some input. Vote on your choice to the poll to the left and feel free to comment and let me know why you chose the one you did. Thanks for your help!
Here are the two contestants:
Brainstorming change
Posted on May 14, 2009
I went to a meeting yesterday with my regional product manager for Collages.net and it got me thinking. She complimented me and told me I’m headed in the right direction with my business. I feel I’m doing pretty well for myself. Especially when you see what I’m up against. A lot of these professional photographers have thousands of dollars invested in education. They have investers and top of the line equipment. I go on amazon and drool at my wish list. I’ll get there, eventually.
So I’ve been looking around on other photography websites, and blogs and I’ve been thinking about a little bit of change. I love change. It makes me feel fresh and new and I usually feel so good about it. So, now I’m thinking about a new blog. One with my own domain. I’m thinking about a new logo. And I’m thinking about a whole new name.
I know.
Here’s the thing. Bella Photography Studio is SUPER long. It’s also over used. There are hundreds of variations of that name. Not to mention, one major company that I am often confused with is horrible. I’ve heard so many bad things about them and I’ve actually gotten a bad review on THEIR service on MY ad page on weddingwire.com. Not cool. Plus, I used the name Bella because Isabella is Ava’s middle name. I have two girls now. I need to incorporate Lily in there. (and no…I’m not having any more kids lol!) So after some brainstorming and some logo designing with some help from Todd and my sister Jessica, I’ve come up with a couple ideas for my company’s new name. What do you think? Vote on the poll to the left! And if you have any other ideas for me, shout ‘em out!
ETA: If you like Lilybelle, just post it in a comment. I can’t change the poll after someone has voted. Thanks!
I’m short.
Posted on May 14, 2009
Just in case you didn’t know. I’m 5′0″. Well, I was. I recently found out that I’ve grown since my mid-twenties. I’m actually 5′2″. Anyway, I went shopping for some new jeans, seeing as my old jeans are maternity jeans and they are HUGE on me. I went to my favorite store in the world, Torrid. Torrid is for women who have some junk in the trunk. They have jeans and shirts and dresses that…get this…actually fit!! Most popular stores seem to think that if you have a larger size waist, you must be 10 feet tall. And if you’re short, you must be a size 0. Yea no. I have meat on my bones..and a little jiggle. And I’m short. (“I like ‘em big, I like ‘em chunky, I like ‘em big, I like ‘em plumpy, I like ‘em round, with somethin something. Sorry…if you have young kids, you’re probably singing along.) Anyway, I bought a couple jeans that were labeled “short”. Usually I can get jeans from Torrid that fit me perfectly…even my height. But… well… here ya go.
Newsflash – I’m short.
Saving for a rainy day…
Posted on May 12, 2009
Can I just tell you I’m super excited about Ava’s 4 year pictures?
Woohoo!
Posted on May 8, 2009
Please please please convict this man…
Drew Peterson arrested on murder warrant
That’s all I have to say about that.
Bluebells!
Posted on May 7, 2009
The girls and I took a drive out to my sister, Cheryl’s yesterday for the sole purpose of hiking through someone’s backyard to see some bluebells. I was told that they would only be there for a week, so I decided to jump at the chance. I was so glad I did! First of all, I was picturing a field of blue flowers. What I got was this couple’s 12 acre backyard complete with woods, creek and the ground covered in blue. It was gorgeous. It reminded me a little of the woods that used to be next to my mom’s house, our family home before it was replaced by two cookie cutter homes. Every spring the ground was covered in these little white flowers. Now they cover my mom’s property for about a week or so in the spring. This is Ava among them when she was about 9 months old
So, I got a bunch of pics of the bluebells, of course, and Ava among them. Violet too, Cheryl’s dog. I couldn’t figure out how to get Lily in there without laying the poor thing on the ground. I can just hear Todd now, “Lily lay there like a slug. It was her only defense.” (Name the movie) So she was excluded. I couldn’t just pick a few of the pics, so I made a little slideshow. (Oh, by the way…big surprise…I heart Picasa in all its wonderful Googleness. I made this little slideshow, set to music in about 5 minutes. And it was as simple as boiling water. I’m not going to talk about all those DVD’s for brides that I made with Adobe programs and how complicated they were to make and how long they took. I won’t even mention them. I’m not bitter at all.)
And just so Ava isn’t left out…
Posted on May 3, 2009
And because I have a billion blogs running through my brain, here’s another.
A couple weeks ago, my friend Melaina and I took our kids to a new park over by my mom. I had accidentally driven past it and for days all Ava could talk about was “The City Park.” So named because they have a bunch of those little fisher price mini houses. It’s definitely her new favorite park, and other than the fact that it takes a half hour to get to, it’s mine too. They’ve got a whole maze of fun park equipment for the kids. So here’s a billion pics of her and Ty and Gavin running around The City Park (a.k.a. Bremen Heights Park).
Lily the Puka Bean
Posted on May 3, 2009
That’s my nick name for her anyway. She likes to spit up. Or as we call it, puk. Pook. Whatever, she does it a lot. After nursing her on each side, she gets burped. And with each burp you have to wait with rag in hand for the onslaught. You cannot burp this girl over your shoulder unless you want puk all down your back and all over the chair and wall behind you. I usually like to burp her with her over my knees with her face pointed towards the floor. Easier for clean up, I’m telling you. You’d think she hadn’t really gotten anything to actually digest, but this girl eats like a horse. She nurses every two hours for 10 minutes each side. Ava would nurse every 3 hours 5 minutes on each side. Of course, she still eats like that, and she’s a bean pole. Lily is a chunkier baby than Ava was, that’s for sure. I don’t think Ava ever had rolls. Lily does, it’s pretty cute.
She also likes to pee every time I take her diaper off. It’s insane. And for those of you who have boys and are familiar with this practice, its a little different when a girl does it. It pools underneath them and you don’t even know it’s happening until you notice the puddle they are now swimming in. Yuck.
As for her temperament, she is a very sweet, calm, happy baby as long as you are holding her. If she is left alone for more than 10 minutes, she will start fussing. The fussing grows over a period of 10 minutes or so until it becomes a full on cry. But still, her full on cry is nothing compared to Ava’s ear piercing “please God make it stop” cry. But Lily loves to be held. It’s hard when I have a lot to do, but my sling helps. She loves that thing. Ava didn’t take to it that well. But then Ava didn’t like to be held that much. She loves cuddling now though.
So after all the messes this girl makes, a bath is in order! And this girl is definitely a Pisces! She loves the water! She could be giving me that full on cry and as soon as she gets in a warm bath, she usually has this look of euphoria. She will just sit there and let me pour the water over her. Even her head! She loves it!. Of course this past week she has found it to be a lot of fun to kick and wiggle while she’s in there. So now I’m going to have to lay a towel down under he sink lest my kitchen become flooded from Lily the Lochness Monster.
Hungry Girl
Posted on May 3, 2009
Lily does this thing when she’s hungry and for some reason, I think it’s adorable. She balls up her little fists as tight as she can and she pulls them in tight to her face or body.
She does it when she’s nursing too. I’ve just come to notice this and it helps to know this when I’m wondering why she’s fussy or crying.
Total cuteness. I have no idea why, but it makes me smile, its so darn cute.
And of course, here is a really adorable picture. Sweet little thing…
